Tom DeSimone

Last updated
Tom DeSimone
Born1939 (age 8485)
Alma mater Emerson College
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Director, writer, producer, editor

Tom DeSimone (born 1939) is an American director, writer, producer and editor, perhaps best known for directing the cult films Chatterbox (1977), Hell Night (1981), and The Concrete Jungle (1982) and a number of pornographic films for Hand in Hand Films, a gay production studio established in the "golden age" of adult films in the early 1970s.

Contents

Career

Writer/ director, Tom DeSimone, was born in Cambridge MA. He received his bachelor's degree in directing from Emerson College in Boston and then headed West to UCLA where he earned a master's degree in Motion Picture production. Following graduation Tom worked briefly as Post Production Supervisor at Bosustow Productions in West Los Angeles.

DeSimone began his career as a director of numerous adult films in the late 1960s, including several gay pornography films under the pseudonym Lancer Brooks. [1] His 1970 film The Collection was the first X-rated gay feature film to include dialogue and a plot while his 1971 effort Confessions of a Male Groupie or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Electric Banana was awarded the Mama Cass award in the "Wet Dream Film Festival" in Amsterdam that same year. [2] [3]

Under Hand in Hand Films, DiSimone worked behind the scenes as a camera man on three of the gay porn studio's releases and directed some of his own, including Catching Up (1975) and The Idol (1979).

Chatterbox (1977), the cult musical sexcapade released by American International, was Tom's crossover film from the adult film world to mainstream Hollywood features. The film was produced by Bruce Cohn Curtis who would then hire him to direct his subsequent film Hell Night (1981), starring Linda Blair. Other films he directed include Reform School Girls, his send-up of women's prison films starring Wendy O Williams, The Concrete Jungle and the television series Freddy's Nightmares and Dark Justice . [4] [5] [6]

After signing with Creative Artist's Agency he moved from features to television where the remainder of his career has been in directing episodic television for various production studios and networks including. Lorimar, Warner Bros, MGM Television, CBS Television, and USA Network. Tom also did a one-year stint in Mexico City where he directed all 120 episodes of the Telenova, ACAPULCO BAY, for Televisa Studios.

His awards include a Golden Eagle award/Cine Film Festival for his short, WOODEN LULLABY; a UCLA Film School scholarship for his film, THE GAME, and a Lifetime Achievement award in the 2005 Gayvn Hall of Fame. Tom now resides in Palm Springs.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleNotes
1970How to Make a Homo MovieAs Lancer Brooks
1970Dust Unto Dust As Lancer Brooks
1970The CollectionAs Lancer Brooks
1970The Upstairs Room
1970Inside A.M.G. (The Athletic Model Guild Story)Documentary film
1971Lust in the Afternoon
1971Assault As Lancer Brooks
1971Confessions of a Male Groupie
1972Chained As Lancer Brooks
1972Prison Girls As Thomas DeSimone
1973Swap Meat As Lancer Brooks
1973Sons of SatanAs Lancer Brooks
1973Games Without RulesAs L. Brooks
1973Black HeatAs Lancer Brooks
1973Erotikus: A History of the Gay MovieAs L. Brooks
1973The Classified CaperAs Lancer Brooks
1974Duffy's Tavern As Lancer Brooks
1974Station to Station As L. Brooks
1974Everything Goes As L. Brooks
1974Bad, Bad Boys As Lancer Brooks
1975Good Hot Stuff As Thomas DeSimone
1975Catching Up
1977The Harder They FallAs Lancer Brooks
1977 Chatterbox
1977Heavy Equipment As Lancer Brooks
1978Hot Truckin'As Lancer Brooks
1979Gay Guide to Hawaii
1979The Idol
1979Gettin' Down As Lancer Brooks
1980Wet Shorts
1980The Dirty Picture Show As De Simone
1981 Hell Night
1982 The Concrete Jungle
1982Skin DeepAs Lancer Brooks
1984 Savage Streets Uncredited
1985Bi-CoastalAs Lancer Brooks
1985Bi-bi LoveAs Lancer Brooks
1986 Reform School Girls
1988 Angel III: The Final Chapter
1997Coming DistractionsAs Lancer Brooks

Television

YearTitleNotes
1988–9 Freddy's Nightmares 4 episodes
1991–2 Super Force 6 episodes
1992–3 Swamp Thing 3 episodes
1991–3 Dark Justice 17 episodes
1995Acapulco Bay
1996–7 The Big Easy 4 episodes
1998 Pensacola: Wings of Gold 1 episode
2002 She Spies 2 episodes

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References

  1. Murray 1998, p. 44.
  2. "All the Good Boys • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine". letterboxd.com. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  3. "BJ's TOM DESIMONE page; great gay film maker". bjland.ws. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  4. The New York Times
  5. The Los Angeles Times
  6. Blair, Linda; Curtis, Bruce Cohn; DeSimone, Tom; Yablans, Irwin (1999). Hell Night Audio commentary (DVD). Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Sources